Monday, May 30, 2011

Week Nine Wrap-up: Chasing the dream: offense explodes in Utley’s return

So this is what the ’11 version of the Phillies is supposed to look like.  Sorta. ( Shane Victorino is rehabbing the hammie in Reading and is expected to rejoin the team Friday.)  The Fightins posted a 5-2 record this past week, taking 3 of 4 from last year’s NL Central champion Reds and 2 of 3 from the inscrutably pathetic Mets.  Along the way they scored 44 runs, pulled off three come from behind wins, and played and won a 19 inning instant classic in which super utility guy Wilson Valdez pitched an inning (and picked up the win).  The pitching wasn’t great, but with the exception of rookie Vance Worley, the frontline turned in a number of gutty, winning performances.  Simply, the Phillies were fun to watch this past week.  They played with personality and enthusiasm.  They won games late, and in unexpected ways.  There was a swagger about them that we haven’t seen since early April.

There were, however, a few notable trends that may or may be the result of playing 20 games in 20 days, of Utley and John Mayberry Jr, and Dom Brown getting accustomed or re-accustomed to the level of play at the big Show, and of the starters consistently throwing 110 to 120 pitches. 

To wit: the Phillies committed 7 errors in 7 games after having committed just 16 in the 46 games leading up to this week.  Of those 7 errors, Utley was involved in four of the plays (although officially he was only charged with one error, two misplays came on pickoffs at second, and one came when Utley and Jimmy Rollins collided into each other on an easy pop-up behind second base, Rollins was charged with the error) and Dominic Brown one.  While Dom Brown’s bobble can be chalked up to a simple rookie mistake, Utley’s play is perhaps a little more beguiling.  Most likely the all world second baseman was simply shaking off the rust, nonetheless, Utley has had a number of gaffes in big moments and the up-to-this-point outlandish suggestion that Utley should be moved to the outfield to save his knees is perhaps not so outlandish after all.  Consider: Ibanez is in the final year of his contract, and is unlikely to be resigned; John Mayberry Jr, Ibanez’s heir apparent still has the look of a project about him at age 28.  Placido Polanco is a superior defensive player and could be moved back to his natural position allowing the Phillies to trade or sign a power-hitting 3rd sacker in the off-season  (Aramis Ramirez and David Wright are in contract years).  It’s doubtful that the Phillies will make this kind of adjustment this deep into the season, but don’t be surprised if you see Utley chasing down fly balls the latter innings of a blowout this year. 

John Mayberry Jr looks awful good in center field.   Runs like a gazelle and throws the ball smoothly and accurately.  Looks awful good on the basepaths.  Makes the all-important first to third jaunt look effortless.  Got nice knack for stealing bases too.  It’s ashame he’s still not hitting MLB pitching on an everyday basis.  Since being “promoted” to starter on May 15th, Mayberry has hit .176 with 1 HR and 6 RBI.  The rub on Mayberry has always been a high strikeout ratio (around 30% for his career), probably the result of that big long swing of his, but he came into the 2011 season with a different look about him.  Has been running deep counts, walking and has lowered the strikeout rate to around 20%.  Nonetheless, Jr still has project written all over him and is most likely the odd man out when the Flyin’ Hawaiian returns.

The concern over pitch count could reach a boiling point as both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee struggled in their starts this week.  Both starters gave up early leads and looked very hittable.  Whether or not the struggles were due to a stupefyingly high number of pitches thrown thus far or simply a matter of opponents making adjustments to their game plans, this is trend that bears watching.

Stat of the Week
Dom Brown first week: .381, 4 Runs, 3 RBI .524 SLG.  Don’t let the weird lunging helicopter swing fool you, this guy might be pretty good.

Hightlights

Chase Utley’s return
The bank was packed (largest regular season crowd in short history of the Bank) and electric and although Utley went 0-5, the energy was palpable as the Phils put up 10 runs. 

Wilson Valdez shakes off a sign.
In an improbably finish to an improbable game, Valdez went through the heart of the Reds order, shaking off a pitch and throwing 88 mph as the Phils won in 19 innings.

Cliff Lee doubles in the go ahead run.
Lee loves to hit.  Collected two and stole a base as the Fightins romped over the Reds.



Sunday, May 22, 2011

Week 8 Wrap-up: Injuries and Ineptitude finally catch up: Phils post first losing week of the season

The offense reached depths of futility not seen in over a century (1909), posting 6 straight games of 6 or fewer hits.  They “busted” out Saturday with a whopping 8 hits before reverting back to futility in Sunday’s loss, getting shutout (again for the 4th time this season, or 10% of the games played) on another 5 hit game.  

Still, the Phillies posted a 3-4 record this week, dropping both games in St. Louis, before coming back to the Bank and splitting the Colorado series (1-1) and then taking 2 of 3 from the AL Champion Texas Rangers (the Rangers were without Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz).  They are currently 7-9 as they go through one of the toughest 20 game stretches they will have all year.

That the Fightins won 3 games this past week is a testament to the rotation and Ryan Madson becoming a dominant force in the closer’s role (Mad Dog was 3 for 3 in save situations).  With the exception of Kyle Kendrick’s spot start on Wednesday (he was Jason Giambino’ed, giving up two long nodoubtabouters to the 40 something ex-roid slugger – Kendrick’s line for the game 3IP 7H 5ER 1BB 2SO) the Phab Four were as advertised, pitching into the 8th inning in 3 of 6 starts and posting a wow 1.70 ERA. 

While the Phillies have had to play much of the year with second tier talent, the regulars have had a hand in the offensive woes as well.  The lineup has been riddled with long 0-fers this season.  From Ibanez and his April early May 0-35, to Howard’s more recent 0-23, along the way Ben Franciso had an 0-17, and Chooch an 0-23.  Jimmy Rollins has looked good in the leadoff spot, but his power numbers are considerably down from his career averages (has total of 11 extra base hits in 207 plate appearances, .367 SLG, down from career average of .433) and he has been extremely average in RISP situations (.250).  Placido Polanco had a great April, but is only hitting .243 in May with 6 RBI.  Add in John Mayberry Jr putting up an 0-10 this past week and Brian Schneider’s early season 0-12 and it’s no wonder the boys in red have struggled to score.

The good news: Shane Victorino is having what looks to be a career year.  GM Ruben Amaro did a 360 and promoted ultra-hyped rook Dominic Brown (went 0-4 in his debut) and it’s a good bet that Brown will be an upgrade over Ben Francisco in right. Finally, Chase Utley is coming back early.  Should be on the field for the start of the Reds series this Monday.  While you can’t expect Utley to be a magic tonic, he can’t possibly be worse than the Wilson Valdez/Pete Orr combo (.231 10RBI).

In other news this past week, Amaro bungled Blanton’s return (Big Joe was not MRI’d after coming off DL and re-injured his elbow) as well as Shane Victorino’s trip to DL (Victorino wasn’t MRI’d either, and because he pinch hit in Wednesday’s game, his stint on DL cannot be retro-active, meaning Victorino lost about five days).  Both players told management they felt fine.  Considering the Chase Utley’s recent injury history and the age of the team, it’s somewhat shocking that Amaro took the players at their word, especially Blanton. (You have to think that Blanton’s a little concerned about his spot in the rotation in light of how well Vance Worley and Kyle Kendrick have pitched).

Stat of the Week
Carlos Ruiz looked awful good behind the plate this week, throwing out 3 of 6 runners attempting to steal.

Highlights
Roy Oswalt’s Return
After a subpar rehab start in the minors in which Oswalt’s velocity was down, the other Roy looked good in both starts this week with the fastball topping out at 95mph with pop.  Although Oswalt didn’t get a win in either start, he was good to very good and considering how punch-less the offense has been, the Phillies are going to need this guy.  Line for the week: 0-1, 12IP 15H 2ER 3BB 6SO

Cliff Lee vs. Rangers
Lee was dominant for 8 innings against his former team, striking out 10 and only allowing 3 baserunners to get past 1st base.  He had the whole repertoire working, striking out the side in the 5th.



Monday, May 16, 2011

Week Seven Wrap-up: Cue the clown music; Phils find a way against the Fish, can’t beat the heat in Atlanta


Wow, what strange week of baseball. From Big Joe Blanton tossing four double plays to Placido Polanco's strange dance to home, Week Seven had more weird and wacky moments than a David Lynch film.  


The Phils posted only their second .500 week of the season (they have yet to post a losing week), winning the Florida series and then dropping 2 of 3 in Atlanta to go 3-3 on the week.  And while some experts still have the Fish fighting the Phils for the division in September, Florida continues to find new and creative ways to lose games while the Atlanta Braves keep looking better and better. By the by, the Braves have the best pitching in the NL (2.99 ERA, 6 Shutouts).


Considering that Doc lost twice, that the Phils failed to score a run for Cliff Lee (again), that the bullpen didn't have a set-up guy, and that Ben Francisco hasn't had an RBI since April 29th (a span of 13 games) going 3-3 sounds pretty good. Throw in three errors, a badly misplayed bunt (in the Atlanta finale), no Roy Oswalt, the offensive sinkhole at the bottom of the lineup and Big Joe Blanton throwing 85 mph cookies and you gotta think the Phils stole some games this week.



Nonetheless, the injuries are beginning to pile up. While Chase Utley played his first "meaningful"(single A) baseball this week (and looked ok; hit .286 with one homerun, one RBI and four strikeouts in four games), Amaro & Co are in no rush to get the all-world second baseman back before he is "ready". Most likely we're looking at a late May return. Maybe the Mets series, but more likely the series with the Nationals (May 30th). Brian Schnieder blew a tire rounding third in the finale of the Marlins series and Shane Victorino tweaked his hammie in the second game of the Braves series. While Victorino's injury doesn't seem to be serious, he's listed as day to day, Schneider could be out of action for more than a month.



For all those Charlie bashers still lurking in the long shadow of this season's big old bandwagon, Charlie served up a heaping helping of crow pie. To wit: Kyle Kendrick and Vance Worley pitching in the 8th, Pete Orr for Wilson Valdez in the 7th inning of the Florida series finale (Orr went 2-2, both hits were doubles, including a big one in the 9th) Michael Martinez pinch hitting a double in the 6th against Jair Jurrjens (Jurrjens hadn't given up a hit to that point), starting Big John in the Atlanta series finale against sinkerballing righty Tim Hudson (Jr was pretty good, stole a base, made a great catch in 7th, walked twice and absolutely crushed a ball to left center with two outs to put the Phils up by one). Not bad for guy who sounds like an extra from Hee-Haw.



Stat of the Week:

In the Year of the Pitcher, Part Deux, the NL East has has been especially dominant, with four of the five pitching staffs ranking in the Top Ten for ERA.


Highlights:


Cole Hamels wiggling out of a first inning Jam

Cole Hamels has come a long way since his trainwreck of a performance in the '09 World Series against the Yanks. Friday's start was another good indicator that Hamels mental game is catching up with his stuff. After Ryan Howard put the Phils up 3 in the top of the first, Hamels gave up a single to Philly Killer Martin Prado and then misplayed a bunt by Nate Mclouth.  Hamels was clearly steamed as he stomped around the mound before settling in to face Chipper Jones. Hamel's second pitch to the first ballot no doubt about it Future Hall of Famer caught too much of the plate and Jones scorched a single past Jimmy Rollins. Phillies 3, Braves 1, 2 on nobody out. Cause for concern? Maybe in years past, but not this year. Hamels retired Brian McCann on a dribbler to Ryan Howard and then proceeded to strike out Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman swinging. Though Hamels didn't figure in the win, he pitched well on a night when he clearly didn't have his best stuff.



Jimmy Rollins' game winner

Rollins had made the final outs in the 3rd, 5th, and 7th inning and was up with two outs and two on in the 9th against fireballing Florida closer Leo Nunez. After taking a 95 mph ball just off the plate, Rollins whacked Nunez's second offering into right field for the game winner.


 

Placido Polanco's Third inning run

With the bases loaded, and two out, the Phillies down by one, Ross Gload hit a little bleeder past an outstretched former Phil, Greg Dobbs. Polanco, blew through Third Base Coach Juan Samuel's stop sign, realized he had blown through the sign and turned back towards third, after going halfway down the line. Cue the clown music. John Buck misplayed a pretty good throw from Emilio Bonaficio and Polanco again ran towards the plate. Pitcher Javier Vasquez was covering, but dropped a soft-toss from Buck as Polanco slid under an empty glove. Phillies up 4-3.









Monday, May 9, 2011

Defending Charlie, the winner’s manual


The Phorum recently had our weekly pow-wow at a local watering hole and happened to overhear a relatively familiar conversation. Charlie Bashing. Surprisingly, still a popular topic. Same old chorus line; he don't sound good, he looks kinda frumpy and every argument that baseball managers don't need to wear the uniform should begin with a video of Charlie waddling out to the mound. There are a number of head-scratcher moves during the regular season that may or may not have cost the team the game. He was a middling Major League player. The teams in Cleveland were stacked and he never won the big one out there. Too laid back and too loyal to his players, doesn't subscribe to certain modern standards of the game – pitch count, the whole lefty-righty matchup thing, sabermetrics, yada, yada, etc.

As fans of the Phillies and just baseball in general, we felt obligated to revisit the Charlie's career and share our findings here.


Charlie Just Wins

Aside from the long list of baseball accomplishments and anecdotes, we discovered a common thread going all the way back to Manuel's playing days. Simply, Charlie is a winner. He wins. And wins and wins. And on the way, he has nurtured talent and potential into All-stars and All-stars in MVP's. He's resurrected careers (when possible) and gotten more out of his no-name bench and bullpen players (remember Eric Brunlett, Clay Condrey) than any manager Philadelphia has seen in thirty years. Maybe ever
Go back to the mid-80's, Charlie had returned to the States after effectively being forced out of the Nippon League, his playing days over (he was nailed in the face to prevent him from setting a Japanese HR record – more on Charlie's Japanball career later) and was snapped up by the Minnesota Twins. In only his second year of managing, he took a truly dreadful AA level team, the Orlando Twins, to the playoffs. (The Twins only had one future major leaguer on the roster, Mark Portugal).

In 1990, Charlie replaced Bob Molinaro midseason as the manager of the Cleveland Indians Triple A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He led the Sox to a playoff berth that season and a year and half later in '92, managed the Sox to a Pacific League Championship. The following year, Manuel managed Cleveland's International League team to a championship, garnering Manager of the Year Honors along the way. So potent were Charlie's offenses during this stretch that a local beat writer coined the phrase "Charlie Ball". And if you're thinking that those minor league teams were stacked with major league talent, you might want to check again. The '92 team featured Beau Allred, Wayne Kirby and Nelson Liriano. While the '93 team did include Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Sandy Alomar there wasn't much else in terms of Major League Talent.


Charlie was promoted to the Bigs in '94 for his second stint as the Indians hitting instructor. His career minor league line, 610-588 in about 9 years. 5 playoff appearances, 2 championships, and one manager of the year award. Looks like a winner to me.


Charlie's exploits as a hitting coach over the next half decade are well chronicled, however, it is worth noting that in '97, the Indians set a club homerun record (220) and in '99, the Indians scored an astounding 1009 runs. It is also worth noting that Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, and Roberto Alomar among others attribute their success to Manuel.


In 2000, Manuel took the reins and led the Indians to the playoffs in '01 before being unceremoniously dumped at the all-star break in '02. The Indians had begun a rebuilding process and were unsure if Manuel was the man to mold a high-potential farm system into high-producing big leaguers. Manuel felt he was the man for the job and demanded an extension essentially sealing his fate. The Indians promoted Eric Wedge, who with the exception of the '07 season, was utterly underwhelming for the next six and half years. Oops.


I'm assuming we all remember when Charlie took over for the Phils in '05. How close they had been under fan favorite, uber high-strung, club-house polarizing Larry Bowa. I'm assuming we all remember that both the fans and local media crucified Ed Wade for the hire; especially in light of Jim Leyland interviewing. Local knucklehead Howard Eskin was especially vitriolic, skewering Wade and then over the next few years Manuel; challenging everything from Manuel's in game moves to Charlie's manhood. One of the Phorum's favorite Charlie moments occurred in early '07, when Manuel appeared to have had enough of Eskin and challenged the shock jock to a fight.


I'm going to gloss over Manuel's stellar record here in Philly for the most part and just point out a few key statistics. The Phils missed the playoffs in 05 and 06, but Charlie set a Phillies manager record for wins in his first two seasons – 173. Beginning in 07, when the Phils began their run of division titles, the Fightin's have been clutch, going a MLB best 177-109 (a winning % of.618). Even more impressive, they have a September record of 72 – 40 (a winning % of .643). Finally, Charlie has more post-season wins (25) than all other managers in Phillies franchise history combined (22).


 

Charlie Ball – winning the right way


If you watch enough of Manuel's sparse press conferences, you'll notice he talks a lot about winning the right way. Winning with toughness and swinging with confidence. But maybe because Manuel's clubhouses are typically light-hearted and loose some are lead to believe Uncle Cholly is too soft. 

The way his words twang. Might be too easy-going.


Hardly, going back to his playing days in Japan, Manuel's nickname was Aka-Oni, or the "Red Devil". I don't imagine a moniker like that comes from being rolley-poley. According to Manuel, while he has mellowed over the years, (he's quoted as saying he'd "jacked up" players when they "didn't do the right thing" during his stint with the Twins in the mid-80s. Manuel doesn't jack his players anymore, but he still on occasion will give them a talkin-to. Chuck Finely, who pitched for Manuel's Cleveland team once said of Charlie, "Friend or not, he's going to walk up and stomp on you if you don't do the right thing". Jimmy Rollins was famously benched for being a few minutes late to a game in '08. So much for easy going.


You want to talk tough? Manual's about as rough and tumble as they come. Although some thought the idea of the 60 + year old man challenging a much younger Howard Eskin to a fight was a) kinda funny, and b) a bit out of character, the truth is that Charlie throughout his career has always been a bit of livewire. Perhaps the most famous incident came during his playing days in Japan when Manuel and two other American players were involved in a barfight with half the East German Hockey team (the Americans got their butts whooped).


Or how about in '79. Playing for the the Kintetsu Buffaloes of the Nippon League Manuel had hit 25 homeruns in the first eight weeks of the season, and was on pace to break a League record for Homeruns in a month (16) when he was beaned in the face. The Japanese pitcher later acknowledged, he'd hit Charlie on purpose. That the Japanese didn't want an American to hold a Japanese record. The pitch broke Manuel's jaw in six places. Doctor's had to use metal plates and screws to hold the bones together. Six weeks later, Charlie was back on the field, wearing a face mask bolted to his batting helmet. He also put the screws from his jaw into a small bottle and wore it around his neck. (He led his the Buffaloes to their franchise's first pennant and Japan Series appearance and won regular season MVP honors.)


 
Players need to be tough to play "Charlie Ball". Running out ground balls at full speed, getting as close as you can to the plate, subsequently getting hit, focus, and swinging at good pitches. A pitcher who's going well might be allowed to ring up 120 pitches if the game is close. The set-up man and the closer might pitch four days in a row. You run into fences and guard the lines in Charlie Ball. It's an old school philosophy and Charlie plays his lineup at times like a gambler at the horse track. Has had a lot of hunches pay off big over the years.


 

All star appearances: Player 7 (1A, 3 AAA '69, '74-'75, 3 Nippon League '78-'80), Manager (3, 1 AAA, 2MLB)

MVP's: Player (2, 1 Nippon League '79, 1 AAA '75) Manager (3 AAA, 2 MLB)

Manager of the Year: 3 '84, '93-'94

Week Six Wrap-up: Phillies swat the Nats, can’t cash in weekend series at the Bank


While it is true that very little can be ascertained from spring baseball, the first week of May baseball may have provided a glimpse into how this season will play out. The Phils went 4-2 for the week, playing solid baseball, but dropped 2 of the 3 to Atlanta at the Bank this past weekend.




The rub on the Braves in recent years has been offense.  This year's group look has a different look, however, with all 8 starting position players being "bona-fide", as Charlie might say, Big Leaguers.  Martin Prado is a sparkplug, a poor man's Shane Victorino.  Jason Heyward broke into the league last season and garnered ROY consideration.  Freddie Freeman, a big left-handed first baseman looks to be a legitimate HR threat to go alongside stud Brian McCann and you have to look at these guys as if  they could put together a good series (as long as Chipper Jones stays healthy) deep into September.   


They still have that great Atlanta rotation and with a healthy Derek Lowe and Tim Hudson, matchup well against the Phillies more decorated group.



The bullpen looks daunting with all those powerball pitchers.  Venters and Kimbrel looked dominant.  Whole bunch of swings and misses.



Even with a healthy Chase Utley, the offense is going to struggle. Jason Werth is noticeably absent.  Hell, Pat Burell is noticeably absent.  In 33 games the Phillies have hit 27 Homeruns, 21st out of 30 teams. Yikes.



While Ibanez did bust out of his slump this week, he is obviously no longer the player he was in '09 when he mashed 34 homeruns.



Ben Francisco seems to being doing his best to get back to the bench, going 0 fer 15 and laying down a bunt in the six inning of the final game in the Atlanta Series. For a team known for the longball, and whom some experts claim still has the talent to clear the fences 180 -190 times this season, Franciso's play, despite his slump, is startling. It's a desperation play.  It's a guy in over his head play.  A "please don't hit it to me".  While the call may have come from the manager, it didn't look like it. One of ESPN's cameras happened to pan to the dugout and caught Charlie jawing at a long faced Franciso. Charlie didn't look happy. You have to think Charlie wants his 5-Hole hitter swinging the bat in the six inning down three runs. Nobody out.



Another thing that has become apparent. Francisco does not run well.



Charlie tinkered with  the lineup moving Rollins an Victorino to the the top of the order.  It worked well.  Rollins and Victorino scored five runs and drove in five for the week


Finally, Roy Oswalt's comments upon returning to the team after dealing with a scary family situation in his hometown of Wier, Mississippi (something to the effect that baseball is not the top priority in Oswalt's life) did not play well with either Manager Charlie Manuel or GM Reuben Amaro.  Neither came out and said anything directly, but both men hedged when asked about Oswalt's return to the rotation.  Manuel went as far as to say he could understand the absence "to a degree".

 
Stats of the Week:

The Phillies 23 errorless games and their fielding percentage of .990 rank tops in all of baseball.


 

Highlights:

Cole Hamels complete game against the Nats:
In a night with multiple storylines, Hamels was dominant, spotting his fastball and throwing his refined curveball to great effect. His line for the game: 9IP 5H 1ER 1BB 6SO. He also hit a triple and scored the go-ahead run.


Ibanez broke his 0 fer 35. He looked visibly relieved.

It was nice to see Ibanez have a break-out series even if it was against a b-leaugue team like the Nationals. Ibanez went 8-12 with 2HR, 5 RBI and 4 runs scored.


Jason Werth's first game at the bank in a Nationals uniform.

The phorum enjoyed seeing the knuckleheads drowned out the bank. Werth's career postseason slashline. .268/.379/.609. Werth hit 13 homeruns in 44 post-season games.


The Bullpen Game:

Kyle Kendrick & the rest of the 7th inning guys were surprising effective against the Braves hot bats. Kendrick in particular, who went 5 innings on 65 pitches, kept the Braves off balance by getting his change over for strikes on the corners and keeping his sinker low or just off the plate. 


Ryan Howard's moonshot in the 4th pushed his career total to 260. Howard passed Del Ennis and is now second behind Mike Smidth (548) on the all-time franchise HR list.


Monday, May 2, 2011

Making the Grade – Phils keep finding ways to win and post franchise best record for April




The Phils end the first leg of perhaps the most anticipated season in franchise history at a franchise best 18-8. Amidst the slew of injuries, the well-documented hitting woes, and uncertainty at closer, the Fightins played a solid brand of baseball. Leaning heavily on the much heralded starting rotation, the Phillies played great defense, and hit when they needed to. Manuel, despite a few "controversial" moves, was masterful. The Phillies pinch hitters hit almost .500, knocking in 3 game winners, and the bullpen went 5-2 with an era of 2.32.



Perhaps in any other city other than Philadelphia, you could say 18-8 and move into May confident and re-assured that all the pre-season hoopla was deserved. Philadelphia Phillie fans seem to be a unusually jittery bunch, however, (perhaps the burden of expectation is too great for you, after all, this winning stuff is so new; we haven't seen a legitimately consistent contender since the Rose, Schmidt and Lusinsky years) so the Phorum invites you to take a closer look.





OFFENSE
Grade: B-



If someone were to tell you that Howard would set the April team record for RBI, that Polanco would set the April hit record and that Jimmy Rollins would get on base in 24 of 26 games, you might think the Phils were on their way back to being the offensive juggernaught of years past. That obviously wasn't the case. The Phils scored 4 or fewer runs in 17 games. They were shutout twice.



Cause for concern? Perhaps, but other than Ibanez and Chooch's backstop mate Schneider, the lineup Charlie trots out on a nightly basis has been putting together good at bats, and the fill-ins, from Orr to Valdez to Big John have played admirably. Perhaps the most telling offensive stat of the month was that Howard & Co struckout only 172 times ( good for tops in the NL.) They don't swing for the fences every at bat anymore. In addition to an aging lineup, they're just not built that way. Get used to 3-2, 4-1, 2-1. The Giants used that formula and a couple of late season trades to win it all last year.



Going forward; the question is this. Are the Phillies mastering (with great success so far) a different brand of baseball (small ball – stealing bases (18 of 24), moving runner via productive outs, hitting in the clutch,.270 RISP, ect) or have they merely been fortunate, racking up wins versus poor competition and getting the lucky bounces?



The Phils are going to get Chase back (don't expect him to be a cure-all, especially considering he hasn't played a game since last year,) and  he will be an upgrade over the ragtag collection of utility guys Charlie's been using thus far.  Dom Brown has the potential to be an upgrade over Benny Fresh in right, but beyond that, this is the lineup we'll be seeing in September. Most likely Ibanez will hit again. The Phils also have a wild card in John Mayberry Jr. Manuel has compared the big son of a major leaguer to Jason Werth a couple of times now, and Mayberry, who has always been a high-ceiling guy going back to his days in Texas, has been putting together good at bats so far this year.


The Phillies under Manuel have historically been second half hitters, what Charlie calls "hitting weather", so expect the Phillies to hit better at some point.  However, even with Utley healthy and a productive Ibanez and right field combination, there could be long stretches of futility.




ROTATION
Grade: B+


The Phab Four have been every bit as good as expected, pitching deep into game, or completing it (Halladay has 2, Lee 1) and combining to go 12 and 5 with an ERA just under 3.50. Halladay has been his Cy Young self and while Lee hasn't been dominant, he has had stretches of dominance, notching 44 strikeouts in 39 innings. Hamels, with the exception of that start against the Mets has picked up where he left off last year. Oswalt has been rock steady and if not for a rash of killer tornadoes might be 4-0. Blanton, who was awful through his first two starts, was solid in starts 3 and 4. Rookie Vance Worley in his first start of 2011 was very good, throwing six scoreless at the Bank.



The only concern for the rotation is whether they will be able to hold up the entire year. Uncertainty and inconsistency in the bullpen meant that Charlie went old school and for the most part disregarded pitch counts, letting his frontline pitch deep into the 7th, 8th and sometimes 9th innings. Halladay in particular (has 686 pitches through 6 starts).  




BULLPEN
Grade: B+



5 and 2 with an ERA under 2.50 is very, very good, but the bullpen has not been without its worries. Former Rule 5 guy, David Herndon was completely awful in April (9.26 ERA in a little over 10 innings of work) and with the addition of spring training standout Mike Stutes, could be relegated to the minors when Contreras or Romero returns from DL. JC Romero has been worse than his 3.86 ERA would suggest (Manuel typically brought Romero in as a lefty specialist) and the second coming of big boy Mike Zagurski has been an unequivocal trainwreck.



That said, the pen was for most part effective. Cuban import Dennys Baez had an ERA under 2 and seemed to be spotting that plus fastball much better than last season. 25 year old Dominican Lefty Antonio Bastardo was a revelation, stranding 88% of runners inherited and posting a wow 14.9 K/9 alongside a sub one ERA (0.82).  


Kyle Kendrick was decent, though hittable, and going forward looks to be a solid replacement for Durbin coming out of the pen.



Jose Contreras was a perfect 5 for 5 in save situations and though he rarely threw a clean inning, the fastball was topping out at 96 and at 41 years young, Contreras complemented his stuff with a veteran's guile and savvy.



Finally, Ryan Madson was dominant and after two successful saves in San Diego may have finally cleared the mental hurdle separating him from dominant 8th inning guy to dominant closer. Manual should have a nice "problem" on his hands when Lidge clears the DL.



OVERALL
Grade: A



The Phillies did more with less in April and considering that the bats don't typically come to life until late June, this should be good news for the Philly Faithful. Despite a rash of injuries, most notably all-world second baseman Chase Utley, the boys in red played a winning brand of baseball. Or rather, they won ballgames in a variety of different ways; with great pitching and solid defense being a standard. Charlie seems to have regained his Midus touch as the bench play and bullpen were outstanding.



There are, of course, a spate of concerns moving into May. The lineup has noticeably aged. Raul Ibanez will turn 39 in June and is mired in the worst 0 – fer of his career. Ruiz has already gone down and Brian Schneider has not played well to this point. Baserunners have been nabbing bases at a frightening rate (85% success rate) against both backstops, whether this is the fault of the pitching, or the catching, it's a troubling trend either way. Rollins is simply no longer the player he was in his MVP campaign, aside from a meager 5 RBI out of the three-hole, he only has six extra base hits. Ben Francisco, while he may turn out to be a competent major league hitter, looks awful in right field. Though he only has two errors, there have been a number of occasions when Francisco has taken a bad route to the ball, or just simply misplayed it. Not to mention, he's not going to scare anyone with that wet noodle of an arm.



The bullpen, a concern at the beginning of the season, looks like a mash unit. Contreras, Romero, & Lidge are on the DL & Madson has complained of achy arm. Blanton going down isn't really a concern (aside from possibly effecting his trade value), as the Phils do have some depth with Kendrick and Worley as well as Brian Bass and Nate Bump at the triple A level. However, Oswalt was pulled from a start with a bad back (a truly scary injury for any baseball player, but perhaps even more so for a starting pitcher). Oswalt, who has had back problems in the past, did make his next scheduled start but was clearly off his game and didn't make it into the fifth inning. Whether his ineffectiveness was because of the back injury or personal issues (Oswalt's hometown was slammed by a rash of tornadoes that blew through the deep South) is yet to be determined but definitely bears watching.



All said, none of the Phillies "concerns" are at this point enough to derail a team that despite its flaws is still by far the most talented team in the NL. The Phillies begin and end May against the feckless Nats, but along the way, they will face some of the stiffest competition they will see all year with series against the Reds, Rockies, Marlins, Rangers and Cardinals.



Hang on to your hats.

Week Five Wrapup – Still snake-bit in the desert, Phils come home to slam the Mets

Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt struggled and the offense continued to be inconsistent as the Phillies posted their first .500 week of the season (3-3).  Nonetheless, the Phillies wrapped up the first road trip of the season 6-4 and ended the first month of the much-hyped 2011 at a franchise best 18-8.  Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard both had big weeks.  Howard, in particular, crushed 3 HRs and knocked in 9, including a grand slam in the weekend series opener against the Mets.   Rollins, who has been efficient but not necessarily productive hitting out of the 3-hole (has been on base in 24 of the Phillies 26 games), had three multi-hit games and hit his first homerun of the season.

Raul Ibanez is mired in one of the worst slumps of his career 0-24 and was benched twice against lefties this week.  John Mayberry Jr started both times and looked very good collecting 3 hits, including a homerun, and walking twice in 9 plate appearances.

The Phillies have scored one run in Cliff Lee’s past two starts.  Lee, who has been up and down, was good enough to win both starts.  His line for the week.  3.21 ERA, 0-1 14IP 13H 5ER 3BB 17SO
Roy Oswalt was clearly distracted in his start against the D-Backs.  Oswalt couldn’t get out of the 4th, surrendering 5 runs on 6 hits.  Oswalt, who makes his off-season home in Weir Mississippi - an area that was hit by record number of tornadoes this past week, left the team before the game was over.  Amaro said Oswalt was returning home to tend to his family.

Rookies Vance Worley and Michael Stutes were both impressive this week, posting 4 scoreless appearances.  Their combined line for the week:  8 1/3IP OER 2H 5BB 6SO

Joe Blanton and Jose Contreras were sent to the DL.  Both injuries are minor, however, and both pitchers should rejoin the club by Mid-May at the latest.


Highlights:
The Doctor is in
Roy Halladay notched his second complete game of the season, opening with 17 consecutive strikes.

Ryan Howard hits a Grand Slam
Howard had already hit a two-run shot, a second deck blast in the fourth inning, when he came to the plate with the bases loaded two innings later.  After swinging and missing at two very hittable fastballs and then fouling one off, Howard caught a 2-2 two-seamer, sending it high into into the Philadelphia night for a grand slam.  All told, Howard knocked in six runs to back rookie Vance Worley’s first big league start of the season.

John Mayberry Jr Homerun
Mayberry had already hit a couple of screaming line drives, but both balls were right at Center fielder Carlos Beltran, the first just off to the left, the second pulling Belran a few steps into the dirt lining the warning track in left center.  Philadelphia fans have been waiting two years for the talented but underperforming outfielder, a number 1 pick and the son of a powerhitting 15 year Major Leauguer to blossom.  Mayberry had a very good spring and and in limited playing time has had a number of big hits, got the biggest hit of the night, extending his long arms and crushing a low slider into the seats out in left center.   With Raul Ibanez in the midst of one of the worst slumps of his career, and Big John starting two games this week, I expect the chorus to start Mayberry is going to get louder.